The Fire in My Soul: A Brony Story
Well, This is a little Brony story by me. yeah yeah yeah. Sue me. It's a MLP based story. And while you might be linking away right now, this is basically, just a regular story, but with ponies. 'You can thank Readwritelivenikki for the epic title and character name. Applause is required. ....... WHY AREN'T YOU CLAPPING. ' -Nikki Chapter Uno: From the point of view of Our hero! (Names open to suggestion) The blaring alarm wakes me up from my sleep. I groan. Another day another dime. I clop my hoof on the snooze button, to no avail. "Shuuuut up!" I moan at it, half asleep. The drone continues. I reach out with my magic and press the button down. Nothing. "SHUT THE FLANK UP!" I say, throwing it across the room. The alarm stills sounds. Wait, that means it's my last alarm, the failsafe. I'm Late. "Crap crap crap crap," I mutter, Bolting out the door, barely having time to grab my bags and grabbing a piece of toast. I hold it in my mouth and dash down the road. I make it to the office in about three minutes. The greeter seems suprised to see me, "Good morning sir," she says perkily. "Morning Angie," I say, "Any calls or news?" "There's an unexpected snowstorm blowing in from cloudsdale, you should get on that." "A snowstorm? It's summer!" I run to my desk and call up the weather factory at CloudsDale. "Hello?" says a female worker. "Yeah, We've got a Snowstorm, coming in on the radar, is it one of yours?" I say. "Oh, I would think we would've spotted that issue, Sorry for the inconvience, We'll get a team right on that." the worker says before hanging up. Well that's how days usually go. Supervising the entire PonyVille is a tough job for one pony. But I do it anyways. I sit back in my chair and relax. As if I could. I extend some magic from my horn and absently toy with a desk toy. I catch my reflection in my desktop computer. My blue coat is kind of matted from waking up five minutes ago. My red mane is standing up on one side. I force the hairs down with my hoof. A few hairs stay down but it's still hopeless. The rest of the day passes by relatively awfully. As I'm walking out of the office, I see one of the employees reading a book. "What's that?" I say. "Huh?" he says, looking up bewildered, "Oh it's the new Rick Riderdan book." "That's out?" I say astonished. "Yeah, you haven't read it?" he says, already returning to his book. I'm out the door and headed to the library in seconds. Chapter two: Aqautic Fire's POV (Our heroes name. Thanks to nikki) I throw open the library doors and run as quickly and quietly as possible. I walk up to the recepsionist. "Are there any copies remaining for purchase of-" "The new Rick Riderdan book? Yes, there's one left. Are you a member of the discount members club?" the clerk says to me. "Yes," I say, pulling out my card, "One copy of "The Cutie Mark of Athena" please!" The clerk rings up the last copy and hands it to me. I take in gingerly in my hooves and place it in my bag. I flash the worker a quick smile and am out the door in seconds. I'm pretty sure I made at least 2 sonic rainbooms getting to the park. The park is a silent, comforting place, where I do all my reading. Right under a nice oak tree. I crack open the book and begin reading. The next hour or so goes by in a blur. I get into my book so deeply I don't hear hooves coming up behind me. "What's that book?" A female voice says behind me. "GYAH!" I scream, jolted out of the book. And into the low branches of the tree. "Oh, sorry!" She yells at me. I notice she's a pegasus, with a light blue coat and deep blue eyes and mane. "I didn't realize you were so into the book." "Heh heh," I chuckle, lowering myself from the branches, "No problem, I get a little engrossed. As to your original question, it's the new Rick Riderdan book." Her eyes widen into miniture oceans. "That's out! I had no Idea!" "Well, this is the last copy," I say, her face sinking, "But I'm gonna be done by tomorrow, I can lend it to you." My generosity suprises her. "Really?" she says, "Thanks! I guess like, I'll meet you here tomorrow at...?" "Noon," I say. "Cya." Oh me and my friendliness. I guess it's expected from someone who can summon happiness stright from his horn. I give her a smile and head off to home. Chapter 3: Another POV from Aqua, as we shall now call him It's getting dark, which is one of the reason I walk straight into the earth pony on my way home. The colt manages to get back to his hooves, with some difficulty. Then I notice his front leg is a robotic fake. He didn't see me coming because of the eyepatch covering his right eye. "Oh gosh I'm sorry," I say, "I was zoned out." "It's fine," the colt says, dusting himself off, "I wasn't looking where I was going." I can tell he's a bit miffed by my idiocracy. I channel a bit of magic into my horn and send a wave of calm and happiness into the colt. His scowl fades and a small smile returns to his face. "Look don't worry about it," he says again. Then he walks off. I admit using my magic makes me feel guilty. But sometimes it's all I can do. It usually works, but I'm feeling tired. The exertion drains me. I fumble for my keyes and just insert the key in the lock with my hoof instead of floating it into the keyhole. I collapse on my bed and read my book for the next few hours. When I finish it, I close the book in astonishment. "that was awesome," I mutter. Then I drop the book and pass out. (The Next Morning) The alarm wakes me up on seven, which it shouldn't have, seing as how I don't have work today. I slap myself. I forgot to turn off my dang clock. "By Celestia Aqua," I scold myself, "Why are you such an idiot?" I shut off the alarm and decide to get ready early anyway. I brush down my mane, which is a mess, and take a quick shower. I remember Nervosa is open at 7 every day, so I decide to just head down there. I can hang around the park til noon and give that pegasus the book, too. Chapter 4: Once again, Aqua's POV. At this point, it's redundant. Nervosa is quiet as usual. Two of the usuals, a pair of earth ponies, bicker over something stupid. I would've sent some calm magic over to them, but I didn't want to tire myself out. I order a scone and a coffee, my usual, and sit back and enjoy the low silence. I finish my scone and get another coffee to go, as it's about 11:30. I sit out under the oak tree in my reading spot and sip my drink. It relaxes me wonderfully. I enjoy seeing the other ponies in the park. A blue pegasus terrorizes the young ones with a few small lightning bolts. A band plays some slow music over in the gazebo. It's a nice day, the sun's shining, CloudsDale sure kept out the storms today. About thirty minutes later, I see something, a small little strand of dark blue coming down from the sky. Then I notice it's the pegasus I met yesterday, her coat is just the exact same color as the clear sky. She touches down a feet away from me and trots over. "Hello," I say kindly, flashing a quick smile. "Hi," she says, "How was the rest of the book?" "It was great, It had about fifty different plot twists," I say, not wanting to spoil anything, "Here you go." I pull the book out of the book and hand it to her. "Thanks a ton!" she says with a huge grin. "Are you sure you want to give this to me? Even just lending it? I mean, it might get messed up or-" I shut her off with some calm magic, "It's fine, glad to do it. I'm Aquatic Fire, please, call me Aqua." I say, extending my hoof in greeting. She takes my hoof and shakes it, "SkyBlue, call me Sky." "Pleasure to meet you, Sky," I say to her. "All mine," Sky says, "Aqua, that's a nice name." "My parents were not creative ponies. They saw me and thought 'He's blue and red! So is fire and water! OOH I know!', It's embarrassing." I explain. "pssh, wanna talk about uncreative parents? How do you think I got the name SkyBlue?" she says, gesturing to her coat. "Oh crap, I forgot I have work today, Weather control, Thanks for the book, I can give it back to you ah, tomorrow?" "Sure, but I'm pretty sure we're expecting a thunderstorm tomorrow, let's meet over at Cafe Nervosa over there at say...3?" I say. "Got it, 3 o clock. See ya," she says, and flys off into the air. Chapter 5: El POV el aqauto de la flamo. I think I may have just offended someone. I walk down the sidewalk, deciding to go to the office to check weather for the next few weeks, always good to plan ahead. I feel my hooves getting tighter, like something is wrapping around- WHOOF. I look behind me to see a few small vines, tangled around my foot. "Crystal," I call out, "Where are you and what do you want?" The unicorn walks out of a nearby shop and comes toward me. Normally I would be nervous, but Crystal Sunshine and I had been friends for a long time. "Sup loverpony," she says mockingly. "Lover what?" I say, pushing the vones away and standing up. "Who's your new fillyfriend?" she says, "I was walking through the park and saw you conversating with that adorable little pegasus." "Who, Sky?" I laugh, "I was lending her the new Rick Riderdan book, Crystal." She falls onto her back laughing. She pulls her herself together after a minute of guffawing. "Yeah right," she says, "Everypony in town sees it! So, you gonna invite her to the festival?" "No, shes not my fillyfriend!" I protest, my face as red as my mane. She rolls her eyes at me. "You're an idiot Aqua, she's got it bad for you." "W-w-whaaat?" I stumble out, a little more flustered than I meant it to be. I must admit, Sky's mane was kind of- Stop it. I scold myself, my life is way to busy at the moment. But, if it wasn't- STOP IT. I slowly channel a bit of calm into my head. "I know what a smitten pony looks like, and that is a grade-A crush!" She says. "Yeah. Okay then. See ya later Crystal," I mutter, feeling embarassed. I walk past her, already my mind begins working on the possibilties. Chapter le 6: Point of view of.....SUPRISE....Aqua. The next day, I walk into Nervosa about 2:50. I sit down in my usual table and relax. I order a small coffee and a sandwich to eat for lunch. In a few minutes, Sky arrives, flying down and landing inside the door. "Hey Aqua!" she says, sitting down across from me, "Thanks soo much for the book, it was awesome!" I smile, "Glad to help, any time." She and I break into conversation about the books twists, turns, and other plot devices. We find ourselves agreeing on characters, and lots and lots of different parts of the story. We go through about five coffees each, which I pay for, the gentlepony I am. I find myself, staring into her eyes. It's odd, they're deep, deep blue. They look like ocean waves, hypnotizing. I've never seen eyes so dark blue, they might even be black. They make me feel drowsy, are they actually moving like waves? I shake my head a bit to snap out of it. "Something wrong?" she says, dropping the topic of the book. "Hmm? Oh nothing just a headache." I lie. "Nothing to worry about, I was screwing around with my magic last night and....yeah. Stupid backwards doors." She laughs, "I'm not stupid Aqua, Come on, tell me-" she stops. "What?" I question, "Is something wrong?" "I just realized I'm working on the fall festival dance! I FORGOT! I have to get to town hall!" she says. "I'll walk you there," I say, standing to go with her. She smiles invitingly and we walk out together. We're about halfway to town hall when I see something in an alleyway. An orange earth pony, backing up in front of three angry looking ponies. The orange one reaches down and picks up a traffic cone. The three laugh their flanks off more a second before advancing again. Sky looks at me, fright creeping onto her face. I put a reassuring hoof on her shouler and say, "I'll be right back," She starts to protest before I push her behind me. "Oy, you three!" I shout, mustering my courage, "What are you doing? Leave the earth pony alone!" They turn, astounded that I yelled at them. I must be giving their three brain cells a workout. "Wutchu doin?" the lead one says. I begin building up some calmness in my horn, creating a reserve. "I'm protecting that pony who needs help." I say confidently, standing tall. They begin to move towards me, now or never. I unleash all my calm magic, into all three of them, the biggest feat I've ever attempted. They all pass out from how serene it makes them feel, a little, side effect. I stumble over to the Orange pony. "Call the cops," I stutter, "Have them take these three away." He wordlessly pulls out a phone and dials the number. I stumble back over to Sky. "I hate to inconvience you," I say tiredly, "But could you help me home? I'm rather tired. I live on 403 maplehill way, goodnight." And then I pass out. Chapter 7: GUESS WHO'S POV IT IS. Yeah, it was hard. BUT YOU GUESSED IT RIGHT. Crystal's POV With a slow stream of energy, I willed a nearby vine to brush my navy mane. My house is one of those old colonial houses, except its half plant. The walls are covered on ivy. The floor is grass on the inside. My bed is grafted into a huge oak tree. Basically everything in the house has some plant part or aspect. My mirror is a pond reflection, given to me by a friend. It's an actual pond, except its sideways on the wall. Tricky magic, I've been told, made it. Pond Dancer, My sister, whom I live with, is kinda my second half. She can will bugs to come to us or leave, so she keeps our house plants bad-bug free. We had just finished a juicy conversation about Aqua's new fillyfriend. I look outside, gazing at two pegasi frolicking in the Sky. I haven't seen Aqua in a while, come to think of it. I remember him going into a coffee shop. Probably discussing the new Rick Riordan (YES ALEX. THATS HOW IT'S SPELLED) book. Of course, I had already read it when I saw him open the first page. Wondering what he's doing, I call Aqua. "Aqua?" The phone goes to voice mail. Interesting. He almost always has his phone with him. I trot across my lawn. His house is on the same street as mine, and I see a frantic Pegasus holding him in tow. His fillyfriend! Carrying his unconscious body! "Aqua!" I lunge at the pair. The pegasus looks up, and signs in relief. "You know him?" She asks, panic in her voice. I nodded, and started to help pull him. "I could grow some plants to help, but they couldn't move, and it'd be so draining.... Did he drain himself using calming?!" I gasp in realization. "Yeah, three thugs were ganging up on an Earth pony..." Her voice trailed off and she had a glistening tear in here eye. "It's okay, he's strong. Usually, he just needs a good sleep and food." I explain. This isn't the first time he's done this. We both slowly pull his body into the house, never once seeing him move. Chapter I have run out of caring. Aqua's POV (Btw, last chap was written by Nikki) I wake up slowly, groggily, from my sleep. I see Sky smiling down at me, she smiles and says, "You drool when you sleep." "No," I say lightheartedly, "I drool when I'm passed out from almost expending my life force doing magic. I sleep peacefully." Her smile dies, "Why did you help that Earth pony? You didn't have to." "I wanted to, it's what I do," I slur, still half asleep, "I see a pony in trouble and I help them." "That was so brave. Did you know what would happen?" She says, brushing my mane back. "Kinda, didn't want it to take so much out of me." I admit. A tear wells in her eye. "No no no, I'm fine don't worry, please. I'll be fine." "Crystal said so, but you were asleep for so long I thought...." she says, before choking up. I stand up, with some difficulty. I do something unexpected, I wrap my hooves around her neck and give her a hug. While the gesture is a bit strange, but it's mainly a front. I feel guilty, but I channel some calm and happy feelings into her, not enough to tire me out, and not too much to make her notice. Crystal sneaks in while I'm concentrating, and almost drops the tray of food she brought us. "Oh," she says, barely containing her laughter, "Let me get this straight, you two aren't ''a couple?" Sky and My face get bright red from embarrasment, We break away and babble out excuses. Crystal stops us with a wave of her hoof. "Yeah Yeah yeah. Excuses Excuses." She turns and walks out, chuckling to herself, muttering, "Classic, classic." Sky turns to me, "What was that?" she says, angry at herself more than me. "Look I'm sorry you just seemed depressed and I-" I explain, but I give up. She smiles at me kindly. "It's okay Aqua, hey uh," she mutters out uncomfortably, "We could use some extra hooves down at the hall, preparing for the festival, would you mind, helping out?" The idea pleases me, "Of course Sky, it'd be fun." Her face erupts into a smile. "I gotta run, go down whenever you're up to it, thanks." she says. Then she turns and trots out of the house. Chapter BLEARGHY SCHMURG THANKS TO SPARKLE PANDA IDK. Crystal's POV. This is Nikki. Who rocks. Like rocks. Of course, until he was Better, I took care of Aqua. Not his little fillyfriend, but me. Which is slightly better than taking care of my whiny niece, but still kinda painful. He ONLY eats organic, and got all teary when I told him that I brought him non-organic soup. Stallions. What are you going to do? "Feeling better yet?" I ask, bringing him ORGANIC soup. He sips it quietly, nodding exuberantly. "Yeah, can I go to the festival now?" He exclaims, sitting up. "Hold your pegasi. You're not going until you're back to strength." "But in feeling fine!" He protests. As he tries to get up to prove me wrong, he turns pink and falls back. I smirk. "Exhibit A. You need rest. You'll have plenty of time to see your little fillyfriend later. I'll turn on your television! That new cooking competition show is on, Clopped!" I encourage him to lay down, fluffing his pillow and everything. He watches the show, sometimes yelling for his favorite chef to win. I laugh, and fix his mane for the fall festival. For myself, I grow a vine of flowers, and make a wreath. I also grow a rose, and make it into a corsage that he can give to Sky. "Like it?" I inquire, and he nods. "It's perfect." In an hour, we make our way over to help set up. Gold, red, brown, orange, and yellow banners adorn the walls, and soft gold spotlights hit the disco ball. Bales of yummy hay are lined up against the wall, and ponies are running around everywhere. "Aqua! You feeling better?" Sky comes up to Aqua, completely ignoring me. "Pegasi." I mutter unhappily. But Aqua and Sky are too absorbed in each other to notice. "Yeah, I'm all right. What do you need help with?" "Can you guys make the hay bales line up against the walls? They're for snacks. And we have bowls of carrots that need to be put out." The next few hours, we decorate, sort, design, and paint. My coat is paint splattered, but the hall looks awesome. Sky is fawning over Aqua's paint job on the wall. His leaves are a bit sloppy, but he looks proud as a lion. I start to walk over to congratulate/humiliate Aqua, but I come at the wrong time. Right when I Walk up, he's asking Sky a question. "Sky? Will you go to the festival with me?" Chapter Smergy Blerg. Aqua's POV It's not like I expected to ask her. We were having a regular conversation about who to hire to DJ. Vinyl Scratch was the obvious choice, but she was busy the night of the festival. We were moving on to refreshments when it all spills out. And I was fairly certain there ''wasn't anything to spill out. Sky backs up, suprise in her eyes. Her eyes seem full of sadness for a second. Then they brighten, and a huge smile fills her face. "Of course I would Aqua," she pratically sobs out, "There's nothing I'd rather do." "Dawww you two are so CUTE!" Crystal says. I didn't even know she was standing there! Sky just smiles and leads me over to the punch bowl. She quietly wraps her hoof around mine. I can't help but smile, the happiness I can sense in her is more potent than anything I could ever summon. "So, what kind of punch should we have?" she asks, somewhat reluctantly changing the subject. "Well, I think a nice tropical blend would be good, but the color in fruit punch would go with the fall theme." I say. "Whaddya you think?" "I think the fruit punch idea is good, how about refreshments? Pinkie Pie offered to makr cupcakes." She says. My eyes widen and my pupils dialate. "No. Not cupcakes. At least, not from Pinkie. She's had some....legal trouble with baking." I mutter horrified. "I don't wanna talk about it." She tilts her head, confused. "Do I want to hear it?" "No. Nope." I say quickly, "Lets think about the other stuff. How bout some like, caterers?" "Ooh catering, nice, Where from?" she says. "Oh. Hm. Sorry my mind isn't exactly, on the ball at the moment," I say, rubbing my face. "Is something wrong?" she inquires, gazing deep into my eyes. "No, I just uh, I forgot some paperwork down at the office, do you mind working out stuff with Crystal? You two should get along fine together." I turn and dash out without a single goodbye. What was I thinking?! I scream this at myself as I run home. I shouldn't have done that. It made me uncomfortable, how unsure she sounded, how pained her eyes looked. Did she really want to go with me? Was she just humoring me? I slide my key into the lock and step inside. I'll explain later, maybe I can salvage this....what, relationship? No, not quite yet, more like a....close friendship. Ugh, I have no idea. Chapter steal my meme again and I will give you a pony then eat it before you. It's Crystal! (Cupcakes? Really?) The two of us stand awkwardly, attempting to put up streamers. Even with a pegasus, those suckers are DIFFICULT! Aqua bolted out for no apparent reason, leaving me with Miss Perfect. Honestly, what he sees in her is beyond me. I could've mistook her for any pony on the street. As my mompony always told me, "Beauty is in the eyes of the holder." "Pass the tape," was the most we said in the next 10 minutes. She would fly up to hang them, while I tore even streamers. It was tedious and boring. Pinkie Pie shows up to help, but proves she's a bit too hyper to help. "You sure you don't need me to hang up any more streamers?" She asks excitedly. I glance at the haphazard, uneven streamers above us. "I think we're good." I assure her. "I can bake cupcakes too!" She persists, with a wide eyed look. "We're good in that department too!" I say quickly, remembering last time. Legal trouble. That's an understatement. She trots off happily, and I try to undo her damage. Half the streamers are in absolute chaos. Suddenly, Sky swoops down to help me. "Gosh, that pony has problems." She shakes her head disapprovingly, and starts pulling down streamers. "You're telling me!" I mutter, trying to cut even strands. "Yeah, she's an interesting one." "So..." The conversation was awkward, talking about a...special pony. I tried to keep it light, and changed the topic. "Aqua seems to like you." Sky blushes bright pink, which was apparent. "You think?" Her voice is careful and measured, but she can't hide the tone of excitement in her voice. "I mean, he was like running home out of nervousness. That unicorn can NOT hide his feelings." I snort. It was true. He was as obvious as if he were trying to hid the Empony State Building. "....wow. I thought he like- actually, never mind. He's just...so....wow. And..." She was breathless, and I could tell she was excited. Trailing off on her sentences, saying "wow" every other word- lovestruck obviously. I bet Aqua was the same at the moment. The rest of the hour, she was in a dreamlike state. Putting streamers on wrong, putting the tables in the wrong places, polishing the floor with wax. Just a little dazed (note the sarcasm). "Need any help?" I ask, when she tried to clean the floor with the fruit punch. "No I'm good..." Her eyes we glassed over, and she was obviously thinking about Aqua. Something about her expression hurt me. Made me feel bad. I excused my self to go help decorate the huge fall cake they're making. There were only 2 ponies helping, and the cake was about 6 tiers. It was a solid excuse. But there was a reason. I frosted the cake, putting the gold candy beads on, and helped mix frosting. But I was never entirely focused on my edible task that I was doing Sky was so happy, so perfect, so cute. Pegasi are beautiful when they fly. No wonder Aqua fell for her. But on land, they're kinda awkward. I watched her fly through the air, happy and dreamy, while I helped place sugar leaves on the cake. A pang of loneliness rang through me. I wish I had someone I loved. Someone who loved me back. On a normal basis, I wouldn't tell her that. But maybe, just maybe, I told her to help me get over my crush on Aqua. Chapter...Nikki. YOu're a MONSTER! Aquas POV (And btw, nice twist nikkolai) I sit in complete silence, punching myself in the face both mentally and physically. No sense, dragging this out any longer. I eat a small lunch, and build up a small amount of calm into my horn, I'm going to need it. Then I head out the door and walk down towards the town hall again. (One, walk. later) I awkwardly pushed open the door and walked inside. Amazing how much they did while I was gone. Streamers hang from the walls. The cake is being decorated by Crystal and two other ponies. Sky gracefully flies around, hanging up the decor. She's got to be one of the best fliers in Ponyville. She notices me standing there, taking in the room and zooms down to me. "Get your paperwork done?" she asks in greeting. "Yeah, this place looks great Sky, you're doing a great job!" I compliment. She smiles and lowers her head. She bashfully pushes a strand of her mane behind her ear. I feel my heart explode. Twice. "Crystal's doing a lot to help too," she mutters shyly, "Hey uh, can we step outside real quick?" "Erm, sure." I say. Nervousness begins to take hold. I channel some calm into me, to little effect. She leads me out the door. Crystal flashes a smile at us, but I notice a kind of...sadness in her eyes. Odd. Sometimes I noticed it but...huh. I can talk to her later. Sky closes the door and flies up to the second floor balcony. I levitate myself with a little bit of concentration. "What did you want to talk about?" I ask, even though I already have the answer. "Crystal tells me that, you kinda, well. uh. I guess you know." she says quietly. My face sinks in despair. "Yeah. I guess I do. Listen Sky I don't mean to make stuff awkward between us." She smiles insanely at me. She steps closer and wraps her arms around me. "I can't tell you how much of a relief that is." she says, not letting go from the hug. "So, the festival, it's a date then?" "It's a date." I say quietly. We stand there quietly for a while, our hooves around each other. She pulls away after a couple of minutes. "How long did you feel this way Sky?" I inquire. "Ever since the day we had coffee, and we just talked for so long. I can't think of you without smiling." she says, gazing into my eyes. I'm sure they're moving, like waves. They hypnotize me into a sense of joy and confusion. "I've been thinking about you a lot these last few days, I've never been so sure about anything, but this whole thing is confusing. I've never felt this way about anypony before." I stumble out quickly. The waves in her eyes calm, and they begin to fill. Then I realize shes crying. With sadness? Joy? Elation? I back away and mutter out an apology. "Are you Kidding?! There's no need to be sorry, that's the sweetest thing anypony has ever said to me!" she sobs out, brushing away the tears. I reach forward and brush a stray one of her cheek. I use a bit of calm to tone down her feelings. She notices my horn glowling and scowls. "Don't do that, please," she says, "You can make me happy enough just being here. But we need to go finish decorating, if you don't mind my busy working." "Oh that's fine, I'm glad to help." I say. I take her hoof in mine and we walk back inside. Chapter...You're just figuring that out? (and thanks Sherlock)Crystal Time! I watch the happy couple, walking in, whispering to each other. Sky giggles quietly, and my heart explodes. In a bad way. I focus my energy on the cake, but when I finish the exclamation mark on "Happy Fall!", I have nothing to do but face the pair of lovers. Aqua is beaming, his horn shiny and radiating calmness. But even his horn could help the unrest I felt. I start to straighten the hay bales, when I see Aqua whisper to Sky. He trots over to me, the huge goofy smile I had come to love plastered on his face. "Thanks. I heard you told Sky how I Felt when I was too scared too. I wouldn't be with her without you." He hugs me, in the way that always makes me feel like his little sister. I nod, fighting back tears. Why, why was I crying? He was happy. My best friend. I shouldn't be sad, he's with the pegasus he loves. "You're welcome." I mumble. Oblivious to my pain, he skips happily back to Sky, nuzzling her by surprise. She laughs, cute and sweet. I can't help but compare it to my obnoxious, high pitched laugh. She's dainty, cute, and sweet. Lets just face the truth: Aqua is out of my league. He's such an amazing unicorn...he deserves a special pony. I'm far from special. Plants. That's all I can relate to. I can grow plants and decorate cakes. Tears well up in my eyes again, and I glance back to the couple. He whispers into her ear, and she's giggling softly. Wistfulness. Exactly what I feel. I remember when Aqua and I would whisper to each other when we were younger. If only he knew I had loved him for a year now. But I suppressed it. The truth is, I didn't want to love him. But when we would crack up together, make funny faces, watch movies. It was amazing. Ever since he met Sky, he had less and less time for me. But I didn't complain. They deserve each other. "I have to go." I mutter to Aqua. "Stomach ache." He has a sympathetic look for a second, but Sky keeps brushing him with her wings, making him laugh. "I hope you get better!" He says, laughing at Sky. She gives him a beaming look, and I am soon forgotten. The bright fall colors seem dull, the sunset pale and dreary. Every falling leaf is no longer a joy to see. When I said I had a stomach ache, it was the truth. Seeing them so happy together, even though I knew it was for the best, hurt me. Made me wistful for love and happiness. But I didn't have it, and the one I loved did. My hooves too sore to walk anymore, I sat down in the grass, looking into a muddy puddle. My silvery white coat no longer gleamed, and in the brown water, I was downright depressing looking. No doubt Sky would look amazing, even in this awful reflection. I grew myself a small flower. It was a bluebell. How appropriate for my "blue" mood, I thought bitterly. It was delicate, beautiful. Unlike me, I decided. All I longed for was a cup of warm soup, so I picked myself up and trotted home. Usually, the sight of my ivy covered home comforted me. But not today. My Pond Dancer wasn't home, and the house was cold. I warmed up a thermos of soup, but it tasted metallic and disgusting. Nothing was going my way today, I sighed. My bed was warm and inviting, so I stuffed myself in there. I was watching So You Think You Can Trot?, a new personal low. It was a pathetic excuse for a TV show, but I somehow enjoyed my miserable time, watching ponies be insulted by mean and strict judges. Misery loves company. I heard the opening of a door, and the familiar clip of carefully stepping hooves. Pond Dancer, probably coming home after getting her hooves polished. "I'm HOOOOME!" She yelled with a flourish. I was quiet, but I could hear her coming near my door. Bang bang. "Crystal? You in there?" I tried to say "yes," but it came out as a half sob, half grunt. She bursts open the door, and looks at my pathetic figure, watching daytime ponyvision. "Crystal! You're a wreck!" She exclaims. How thoughtful of her. "Thanks for noticing." I mutter, sarcastically. "Your mane is all willy-nilly, your hooves dirty, and what am I going to do with those puffy eyes!" You can tell how much my sister loves me. "You can't go to the festival like this." She shook her head disapprovingly. "I'm not going." I say shortly. "Why in the name of Celestia aren't you going? I thought you and Aqua were going together." She says, and I burst out in muffled tears. "That- *sniff* -was b-be-before- *sniff* -SkyBlue." I sob, choking in between words. Pond rushes over to me, and strokes my tangled mane. "SkyBlue? Isn't that the pegasi who won Miss Ponyville last year?" Pond inquires. I nod quietly, if you don't count the sniffing. "She's so nice!" With that, I break out in sobs. "She likes Aqua." "Oh." Pond pauses for a minute. "The world doesn't revolve around Aqua you know." Helpful. Isn't she? "I'm not saying it does!" I cry angrily. "I loved him. B-but he loves her more." "Stallions!" She sniffs disapprovingly. "Such bad news for young mares." "You don't get it! Aqua is- was- my best friend. But he chose her over me. It's that simple. And I don't care anymore. I just want to live in bed." I declare, not stuttering once! "...seems like you do care." Oh what an intelligent unicorn is Pond! "Forget it," I moan. "No, I'm not going to. You are going to get out of bed and I'm going to make you ready for the festival. Get out you lazy pony." She whacks me with a pillow. "I don't want to!" I groan. But Pond Dancer persists. She goes as far as pulling me out of my bed by my hoof. I collapse on the ground, but she brushes my main anyway. She puts it in a complex hairstyle only she can do, and brushes my coat. "You are going to go to the festival, and show Aqua what he's missing, hon." Pond states, and arranges flowers in my hairstyle. I look great. But I'm miserable. At last, she puts me in a dress. It's gold, with beautiful silver leaves. She polishes my horn, and puts a gold chain around my neck. "For good luck." She winks, and I hug her. She's a little annoying sometimes, but I love her. She spent so long on what I looked like, no doing her own mane and coat. "I love you Pond Dancer." I tell her. "Thank you." "No problem!" She says, waving it off. "Now go have fun, don't come back until at least midnight, and do random dance moves. Follow those instructions, and it will be just fine." I walk to the dance hall, take a deep breath, and walk in. Chapter. Buuut. You would..Eat...a pony. How COULD YOU! Aqua's POV I pick Sky up around half an hour before the dance. When I knock on her door, it opens almost instantly. And I forget how to breath. Sky looks...absolutely stunning. Just. whoa. Her red dress goes suprisingly well with her coat, and the autumn leaves decorating are beautiful. I attempt a greeting, but I more or less stumble out some kind of gibberish. Sky laughs. "Cmon Aqua, let's go, don't wanna be late." We walk, chatting about how excited we are, how great each other's outfits look, the usual talk that feels special no matter how mundane it is. Sky's pratically jumping up and down, and she at one point begins flying a short distance above the ground. We arrive at the dance hall as a few ponies are just showing up. Nothing major, just a few people chatting. We did, a rather astonishing job on the hall. I take Sky's hoof in mine as we walk in. Over the next hour or so, everypony in town shows up basically. Then the festival starts. Me and Sky dance, walk around, talk to people, and generally act like idiots. It's great. Then, during a particularly interesting song with forgien lyrics, Crystal walks in. I admit my first thought was: Whoa. She looked great, in a cute gold autumn looking dress. She's even got a few flowers in her hair. Shes got a type of pained, forced smile on her face. I never thought of her to be the glamorous type. She trots over, a look of obvious false confidence on her face. Why has she been so awkward lately. "Hey guys!" she says excitedly, "Great party!" As soon as she says the word "Party" I hear a sound like a small cannon and see candy flying everywhere. "Pinkie PIE!" we all say in unison. We laugh, turning away from the chocolate rain. "Oh Crystal," Sky inquires, "Didn't you tell me you were bringing somepony?" The comment makes her face sink immediately. Sky can tell she made a mistake. I pour a small bit of happiness into Crystal. She perks up her head and says, "Uh, he uh, he went with somepony else." "That's too bad," Sky replies, "Well, who needs him? There are lots of colts here, go meet one!" A sad smile plays at Crystal's face. "heh. Yeah I guess so, Well, I'll see you guys on the dance floor." She turns and trots off without another word. "Doubt it," I say, "I've got four left hooves." "Pssh, It's easy!" Sky chuckles, "I'll help you if you need it." "You're sweet." I say quietly, nuzzling her face. She blushes. "DID SOMEONE SAY SWEET?" I hear somepony scream, followed by another cannon shot. A stray candy bar flies over and hits me in the face. Ow. The foriegn song ends and a slow song begins playing. Sky wordlessly takes my hoof and half leads, half drags me to the dance floor. I'm not much of a fast paced dancer, but I can tackle a slow dance. You know, without tackling my partner on accident. I put my hooves around her neck and we successfully complete the dance without killing each other. Sky rests her head on my shoulder and mutters, "For someone with four left hooves, you sure can dance." "You're not bad your-" my voice trails off. I see, just at the corner of the room is Crystal, crying her eyes out. And shes watching us. She runs out quickly, and I give Sky the best I'll-take-care-of-this. look and head after her. Chapter next one. Riddle me this, what happens when nikki is too lazy to write next? Another Aqua's POV! I find Crystal, adding tears to a puddle outside. "Crystal what's wrong?" I say, building up bits of happiness in my horn. "Nu-Nothing." she says. "Pssh, okay, lets see, you're out here crying, everything must be fine. Come on. Talk to me." I say. Crystal and I would always help with each others problems, but we usually involved some jokes or something. Not this time. "I..I don't wanna talk about it," she sobs. "Cryystal," I say, "You can talk to me! We're best friends!" She just cries harder. I begin channeling some happiness over to her, but she notices my horn glowing. "Don't do that. Not this time." she says, glowering at me. I stop. She turns away. "Look you can talk to me, you trust me right?" I say. She looks deep into my eyes, making me a bit uncomfortable. She blinks away new tears. "Look I just. I can't think straight at the moment. I need some time alone." she says, her voice catching on every word. Without wanting to, the happiness in my horn begins to flow over to her. Her own horn begins to glow. A vine erupts out of the ground and grabs my neck. "I said, don't. Do. That." she spits at me. "Okay crystal," I gasp, my voice strained, "Force of habit. Sorry. K let my neck go please." The vine unfurls and drops me. "Truth is Aqua," she says, taking a long time to put her thoughts to words, "My sister, shes like, really sick. And she told me to come anyway and I'm worried about her." Oh that makes sense, those two are inseparable. "Oh Celestia Crystal, I'm so sorry, here, you should go home and take care of her, I'll stop by later, okay?" "Okay," she croaks, and runs off, sobbing loudly again. Chapter Well riddle ME this: What do you get when I punch your face? A broken Sparkles! Well this is Crystal anyway Idipony! Idipony! I can't believe I just did that. A sick sister? NOW he's going to come by my house, and realize I'm lying. Stupid, stupid me. I can't believe I just did that. I sprint away from that awful, awful festival. They're probably crowning the festival queen and king pony, I thought bitterly. Worst. Day. Ever. To top off the day of misery, it started raining. Whimpering, I took shelter under a tree. My dress was soaked. My hair was a tangled mess. All I could do was cry. I sat down in a muddy puddle, teardrops spilling out of my eyes. Nothing could go right, could it? Nobody was there, of course. Everypony was at that stupid festival. That wretched festival. Home wasn't an option either, considering Pond Dancer would be at the festival too. The whole park, my secret haven, was drenched. Also not an option. Nothing was anymore. My life was a wreck. I saw another muddy puddle, this one rippling repeatedly because of the consistent rain. This afternoon I thought I was a wreck. Now I was just...I didn't even look like a pony anymore. Red blotchiness overtook my face. Puffy, teary, and just plain disfigured. My hair had several flowers at odd angles,my mane tangled. I couldn't do anything but sit there. Cry. Think about Aqua. Think about SkyBlue. Cry. The cycle never ended. Aqua, oh he would find out I was lying. He'd find out the truth. And perfect, perfect Sky. He would abandon me. Go to her. Live happily ever after. Forget about me. And then there would be me. Living alone. Always shunted. In those sad moments under the tree, I remembered the day I met Aqua. I had been practicing my powers to no avail. Other unicorns would laugh, and show off their glowing horns. Pegasi would flap their wings and look proud. I hated it. I was the loner. The unicorn with no power. When I met Aqua, I was sitting under a tree, crying my little eyes out. Just like now. Aqua, who knew his power, came up to me, and asked why I was crying. I can't find my power, I told him. And the other ponies were being mean. But I could feel his calming powers working on me, and I stopped crying. Just like that, felt a surge of power, and a lily shot from the ground, blossoming. We had been friends since we were young. But there was no Aqua this time to comfort me. No surge of power. No sudden ecstasy. He had Sky. And I had a muddy puddle. Love, life, happiness. All a game. Not real, I thought. Suddenly, the rain stopped. The clouds lifted. A ray of pure moonbeam shone upon a spot. Celestia. The princess herself. And she was slowly walking towards me. "Why do you cry?" Her powerful voice was kind and gentle. "...I-I can't say." I whimper. Here was this beautiful, strong pony. And here I was. A weak, ugly, insecure pony. It was too much. "Why aren't you at the festival?" "Hmm. I've never had an interest in festivals. I have work too, you know." She said, a twinkle in her eye. Celestia. In front of me. Right there. Talking to me. "I-I. I went. B-but..." Another round of tears followed. "But?" Celestia inquired gently. "Aqua Fire. He...he's my best friend," I explain, clearing my throat until I gain composure. "I-I liked him. As more than a friend. Loved him even. But...he loved a pegasus. SkyBlue." "Love, and love disappointed. Ah, yes. You're still a filly. To me, of course, every mare is. When you become my age, you learn that there are disappointments in life. It's something you learn from." "But...Aqua. I thought maybe he loved me too. When he started hanging out with Sky, he forgot about me. And he saw me crying, and I made up a stupid excuse and now he's going to hate me." I cried. Princess Celestia put her wings around me. "Little pony, why can't you still be friends?" She asked softly. "Even if you did make up an excuse, if he was a true friend, he would still like you if you told him the truth." "I'm just...so confused. I don't know what to feel anymore." I sat down, and Celestia continued holding me with her wings, which was comforting n "You don't have feel anything. Just know that you're friends through thick and thin." She soothed, getting up. "See? There's Luna, drawing the moon. She doesn't worry about how it's going to go. She justs lives like what she's used to. Don't trouble yourself. Live like you're used to. Don't let worry or concern rule your life." "T-thank you, Princess Celestia." I wobble into an unbalanced bow. "Now, I must go. But before I leave-" she touched her horn to me, and my mane untangled, my dress cleaned, and my flowers replaced. I was restored to what I was before I started crying. "Good luck, and remember. All you need to know is this: A true friend sticks with you when all seems lost. Good night." And with that, she flew away, and the beam of moonlight that had illuminated the tree was gone. I sniffed, and got up. It was only an hour into the festival. I needed to tell Aqua the truth. A sensation of freedom overwhelmed me. Live like you're used to. Don't let worry or concern rule your life. For the first time since Sky, I felt right and happy. The rain had tapered down, and I slowly Clopped back to the dance hall. I stopped, and saw a silver puddle on the walk. Unlike the other times, I looked down and saw a pony with confidence. My horn had an unnatural luster, my eyes bright and gleaming. Something about my coat had a new sparkle, and my mane was silkier then ever. Thank you Celestia, I thought. Everything was going to be okay. With a smile, I headed off to the hall. When I opened the doors, everypony was still dancing, and the king and queen of the festival had not been announced yet. I saw Aqua and Sky together, but the wistfulness I had felt prior was gone. Deep breaths. With a new stride in my step, I walked towards them. Before I went up to them, I was confident. But right when the word "Aqua" had formed on the tips of my lips, Aqua leaned in and kissed Sky. Chapter who really cares anyways about chapter numbers. Aqua's POV (The plot thickens, so gather closely children, as our story is not over.) After a couple of blissful seconds, me and Sky pull away from each other. It's been so long since I've shared a kiss, gosh it felt good, to love. Be loved. I look and see Crystal, apparently back from tending to her sister. "Hey Crystal!" I say cheerfully, cause heck I'm happy. "H-Hi you two," she says, her happy voice catching slightly, "I uh, see you two are really enjoying yourselves." She winks, but I notice a tear that slides down her face. "Crystal, what's wrong? Is Pond okay?" I inquire, worried. She shakes her head to clear her thoughts. "Uh, no. Not really. I uh, needed to get some medicine we didn't have for her, but I thought I'd drop in and say hey real quick. So, uh, Hey!" And with that, she brushes some more tears off and dashes back outside. Sky looks at me as if to say, "Go head." So I give her a grateful hug and follow Crystal. Again. Shes walking down the road this time, and it takes me a while to catch up to her. "Crystal, maybe I should walk you home, you seem really depressed, is Pond really that bad?" I say breathlessly. She shakes her head as more tears come down. She chokes out, "I'm fine, thanks. I can take care of her. I just wanna be alone." I oblige and turn back to the hall. When I arrive back, I can't believe my eyes. Sky is standing there with some pegasus, laughing and talking. Then this guy leans in, and kisses her. Boom. My heart deflates like a balloon. A tear builds up in my eye. I shoot a ray of calm at the pegasus, knocking him out. Then I turn and throw open the doors and run home, sobbing all the while. (Later that evening) I sit on my couch, stuffing my face with ice cream (Sad right?) and watching the premeire of The Trotting Dead. I still wish I hadn't seen that. The betrayal the....the.....ARGH. I channel the last of my calm and happiness into me, which is diminished by the next scene in the show, where the protagonist blows off a zombie's head. I gag. Then I hear a knock on the door. I pratically jump off the couch in fright. "Coming," I call, my voice hoarse and shallow. When I open the door, I see Crystal standing there, no dress or flowers in her hair, just Crystal, looking like herself. "Hey Aqua, I came to check on you," she says, "I saw you run by my house window. What's wrong?" I reluctantly explain about Sky and the other Pegasus. Her face softens and she wraps me in a gentle hug. "Gosh that sucks. I admit, I saw the colt I liked kiss another filly tonight. It was not fun." she comforts. I numbly return the hug. I don't know why, but it feels right. "Well, shall we wallow in our misery together?" I offer, "There's still fifteen minutes left of The Trotting Dead and two pints of ice cream." She smiles. "That'd be okay," she says nonchalantly. We sit on the couch, eating ice cream, conversing, crying every now and then. At one point the entire group of survivors is surrounded, and we huddle against each other. After the scene, Crystal doesn't move back to the other end of the couch. It's comforting, having her there, a pony who is just as unlucky as I am. At the end of the show, Crystal falls asleep on my shoulder. So I sit there. For an hour while she sleeps. Crystal looks 20% prettier when she sleeps. Her sad face relaxes, her breathing is a regular pattern. I start thinking about recent events, how she seemed so sad when I was with Sky. What if she- nahhh, Crystal and I are just friends. Right? Chapter Seriously we shouldn't even say that. It's Crystal's POV and that's that My eyelids flutter open, and I feel a warm presence on my shoulder. I lay tucked under a blanket, laying on Aqua's shoulder. His eyes are shut tight, but in a peaceful way. A small smile plays across his mouth, and I can tell he's having a good dream. How fittingly ironic, that Aqua and I spend the night, drawn together by love disappointed. I cried when Aqua kissed Sky. He cried when she kissed another. And now we're here. But it wasn't as I imagined. It was sappy, uncomfortable, or full of itchy clothes that you keep in the attic. It was just Aqua and Crystal, the friends. He stirred, and somehow my hoof found his. "Aqua?" I whispered, not wanting to wake him up. "Sky?" He murmured. My heart broke. He wasn't smiling because we were together. He was smiling because he was thinking about Sky. Probably dreaming about her too. Wishing they could get back together probably. Suddenly, his eyes opened. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves. "Sk- Oh crystal." He looked at the clock. "It's 9 AM." I informed him. "Oh. I thought you were Sky for a second. It's nicer waking up to you." My heart exploded. He...oh Aqua... He smiled at me radiantly, and we both got up. His kitchen was nicer then most stallions'. I grabbed some pots and pans, knowing where they were from being at his house a lot, and started making breakfast. "Muffins, hay salad, and coffee?" I suggest. "That sounds awesome. I'll make some coffee." He smiles at me and starts putting in my favorite blend. I cook quickly, and when we sit down, everything seems perfect. Contrary to yesterday, the sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky, and I feel happy for once. "Thank you. For making me feel better. I was torn up about that colt last night but...Im not anymore." I confess, and nuzzle him. "You did the same. I knew Sky was no good from the start!" He said, shaking his head knowledgably. "Suuuure." I roll my eyes and take a bite of apple muffin. "By the way, who was the colt you were after?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. I blushed a little, putting my mane in my face. "Well...if you MUST know..." I pull my mane behind my shoulders. "Yes?" He persists, leaning in. "It's you." And that kiss was probably the start of our happily ever after. Chapter um. my mind is blank so. Bear with me here. Aqua's POV My mind just goes...caput. She just leaned in and....boom. A life long friendship, doing what? Ending? Changing for the better, the worst? But I get a feeling, a feeling like this is right. This should've happened a long time ago. I kiss her back. And it's wonderful. We kiss for a minute in complete silence. Then she reluctantly pulls away, with the hugest smile I thought possible. I feel myself beeming. "Well, I kinda feel like a jerk now," I whisper. "What?" she demands, taking my hoof. "I was prancing around with Sky yesterday, that must've been tough." I say, pulling closer. She looks into my eyes and whispers sadly, "It's been tough since we met each other." "You mean, all this time-?" I can't believe it. All the time she teased me, watched me through relationships. By Celestia that would've been awful. "Yes. I was going to ask you to the festival but....the day I was gonna ask, you and Sky met. And I knew it was hopeless." she says, her voice choking a bit. I take her shoulders and kiss her again. There are no more words left to comfort her. All I can do is kiss her for all the times I should have. The sadness I felt in her dissolves instantly. She relaxes and leans into the kiss. We pull apart and I hold her for a while. She whispers softly in my ear, "So, who's the new fillyfriend?" I smile, that's the same line she always used. "Oh shes great, we've been friends forever and I think I was missing out. And I've never been happier with anypony else." I say, smiling down at her. She presses closer to my chest and hugs me tighter. "Cmon, lets go for a walk, I wanna go to the park with my new fillyfriend, whaddya say?" I ask, noticing her face brightening. "That'd be great, cmon lets go." And with that we walk out into the sunlight. Epilogue (You know you miss those weird chapter headings!): Crystal's POV "Ready to face the world?" I whisper through Aqua's mane. He nuzzles me back, nodding. "Ready." We had been dating for a week, secretly. Nopony knew, but we met sometimes AT my house or his. But today we were going to announce it to the world. I gripped his hoof in mine, and walked out the door. When we started towards the coffee shop, people started to notice. "Did you see...?" "I thought he was with..." "Is she really...?" The rumors were flying, and when Aqua and I sat down in the shop, everypony seemed to stare. We each ordered a coffee, talking to a curious barista. "Hey Aqua! Didnt know you got a new filly friend." Teased Sugar Cube, the barista. "How long you been together?" I blushed and responded, "a week." Aqua beamed at me, and kissed me in front of EVERYPONY. A small giggle escaped from my lips. After the coffee shop, book store, and park, I thought everypony knew about us. Until we went to the post office. Sky was there with the colt from the dance that Aqua had described. She was flirting with him playfully, but he seemed uninterested. I walked away from Aqua to buy a stamp sheet, and when i came back she was flirting with Aqua. My Aqua. "I've missed you...wanna go get lunch?" She suggests sweetly. "Nah," Aqua says as I come up behind him, "Im already going with my new fillyfriend. Crystal, have you met Sky?" Aqua put his hoof in mine, and I smiled at Sky. "In passing, I believe." I say. Sky is utterly perplexed, and leaves saying something about never believing. "Glad to be rid of her." Aqua snorts. "And why's that?" I ask. "Because you're the fire in my soul. Not her." Some Art By Nikki AquaticFire.jpg|Aqua CrystalSunshine.jpg|Crystal SkyBlue.jpg|Sky